182 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1953 



mind tries to inject something radically new into anything it does. 

 It may provide the flash of genius that shows up a new continent of 

 knowledge or gives rise to a new all-embracing theory. It may throw 

 new light on old tough problems. It may just invent an easier and 

 better way of performing an experiment or making a commodity. 

 It is a mind that transmutes ideas from one field of experience to 

 another. (b) The critical or analytical mind takes nothing for 

 granted, but examines keenly all statements presented to it, probing 

 deeply into their consequences for consistency and rigor. It is the 

 questioning mind so needed for clarification of complex situations 

 and for establishing the validity of experience, (c) The cumulative- 

 inductive mind ranges in the literature and in experiment, collecting 

 facts and attempting to put them roughly in order. It is a type of 

 mind that has contributed, for example, largely to physical chemistrj'. 

 It is a type of mind that makes local elements of pattern, (d) The 

 cumulative and descriptive mind is that of the trained and keen 

 observer who remembers what he sees and describes it clearly for 

 others to read. It is the mind that has laid the foundations of the 

 complex sciences of astronomy, geology, and natural history. It 

 is always evident on the frontiers of knowledge and is the stock-in- 

 trade of the effective teacher, (e) The meticulous mind is concerned 

 about the correctness of all details in observation, procedure, and proc- 

 esses. It is concerned with the search for accuracy and precision, (f) 

 Finally, we have the routine-industrious mind that follows through 

 relentlessly, especially where many experiments are needed to estab- 

 lish one fact and where repetitive processes are of the essence. 



History has shown that all these mental attributes have important 

 roles to play in the sound and steady growth of all branches of science 

 and engineering, and we should be guilty of crass intellectual snob- 

 bery if we discounted any one of them. The meticulous worker who 

 spends years establishing the real facts in a complex phenomenon 

 or in perfecting a technique, or the routine-industrious man who ex- 

 plores an area thoroughly by a long series of measurements, provides 

 means and materials for the inductive thinker and the creative artist, 

 materials they might not be able to get for themselves. The critical 

 mind keeps thought and observations on the track, saving costly 

 detours along false trails. Each has his place, and the secret of the 

 efficient use of manpower either on a laboratory scale or on a nation- 

 wide basis lies in assigning to each mind a job suited to its attributes 

 and carrying with it recognition of contributons to a worthwhile 

 objective. 



Throughout the centuries, the progress of science has depended on 

 teamwork. Although each investigator planned and carried out his 

 work in a very private manner, he took care to make his results public 



